How does Occtoo build a strong remote company culture?

In 2019, Occtoo set out with the ambitious goal of building a fully remote, global company, and establishing an organization of aspiring, dynamic team members across multiple locations. Currently (August 2022) we have over 40 incredible team members across 15 countries!

By having asked our team, we KNOW that our global and remote-first setup provides employees with a lot of freedom and opportunity to design their life in a way that fits them, and it gives us the flexibility to hire the best, regardless of location.

Our foundation for remote-first

Creating a culture for remote-first is different compared to a more traditional office-based setup. Therefore, developing our culture has been a key priority for us from day 1, with a set of corner stones and principles guiding us along the way.

In short; work-life harmony, inclusiveness and remote-first (but not remote only) are the foundations of building our successful team.

We put a lot of pride in enabling trust, empowering individuals and teams, offering flexibility and nurturing collaboration amongst employees, as well as offering a meeting cadence which includes physical meet-ups and check-ins for both business and 'bullshit'.

We strive to make sure everyone can be the best version of themselves every day. Doing so, the results will come, and targets will be reached.

How we strengthen our remote culture?

To help explain how we build and strengthen our culture, I listed some of our key priorities at Occtoo; this has guided us in the design of Occtoo since day one.

1. We put in trust in each other
   
   At Occtoo it’s all about a team effort. Across our teams we always believe in the individual's ability to do their best, reach out for support, give support, and fail fast. Feeling trusted is a key success factor to high performance.
2. We empower team members with the tools they need
   
   We aim to make sure everyone in our team has the tools they need to feel empowered to do their job. This includes providing clear goals or understanding of deliverables as well as equipment, software, or access to another professional in the business for guidance and insight.
3. We ensure team members are participating equally in meetings
   
   Working remote can be a lonely job, so attending meetings is as much about human connection as it is about contributing to the discussion. With our video-first approach, we ensure all relevant team members are included and participating, even if they are not in the same room as those who’ve managed to meet face-to-face. This way no one feels excluded from the conversation. It also encourages us to think of structures and efficiency of meetings in a better way.
4. We facilitate collaboration and continuous learning
   
   Being part of Occtoo is all about a team effort. Everyones individual contribution is extended beyond their own duties and performance to offer support and help us reach results faster as one team. We continuously host sessions to reflect on learnings, failures and champion moments.
5. We schedule time for socialization and fun
   
   Occtoo is all about work-life harmony, and for us, socialization is just as important and critical to working relationships as work meetings are. We make sure to offer frequent check-ins for both business and 'bullshit'. Every Friday we connect digitally and enjoy “Fika” (Fika is a Swedish custom where people gather to eat, drink, and talk). Every month we offer extracurricular activities for people to come together for some fun.
6. We measure employee engagement with culture health checks
   
   Every three months we share an employee engagement survey. The outcome of this provides us with insight to ensure that our culture aligns with Occtoo’s mission and values. A positive working environment promotes employee motivation and that’s a win-win for us all. In the latest employee pulse survey, our team described Occtoo as having great team spirit, a flexible working environment, supportive colleagues and being entrepreneurial. This is a great confirmation of the culture we desire. Here is the most recent word cloud generated by the latest survey. 
   
7. We recognize success and celebrate together
   
   Whether it’s news about a new customer, a new team member, or an award nomination – we keep the whole company informed so that everybody can celebrate our success.
8. We are remote-first, but we are not remote only
   
   For most of us, working fully remote is quite the change to our previous work experience, and it’s important for us to try and meet up with our team members with some recurrence. Individual teams try to travel and meet in the same location on average every 2-3 months, and as a company we arrange workcations a couple of times a year. When we do meet it’s for socializing and doing collaborative creative work, rather than executing the everyday crunching.  
9. Work-life harmony instead of work-life balance
   
   At Occtoo, we believe harmony in life requires different states at different times. Sometimes your professional life requires an extra gear at work, and at other times there are situations where your personal life requires some extra attention from you. By supporting each other with the right harmony in life, we also make sure that we have the right balance over time. We offer flexibility of working hours as well as the ability to work from anywhere, even though from time-to-time we all need to adapt to the benefits of the team.
   
   

Would you like to work with Occtoo, 100% remote?

We’re still growing here at Occtoo, and we’re looking to employ more great minds to join us on this exciting journey. Check out our open vacancies and take the next step in your career. We can’t wait to hear from you! 

Read more on Why Occtoo is building a global, remote-first company, and what it means for our people.